Presidents’ security bill? $1.5M

Trump due in for Easter

It cost South Florida taxpayers about $1.5 million to provide security for President Donald Trump’s meetings with the Chinese president along with the rest of his visit last week, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office.

The $1.5 million estimate includes the overtime and other expenses for sheriff ’s deputies from Palm Beach and Broward counties, as well as Boca Raton, Lantana, West Palm Beach and other nearby police departments, according to Sheriff ’s Office spokeswoman Teri Barbera.

And since Trump was elected president in November, his visits to Palm Beach, including the China summit, have cost law enforcement agencies about $3.5 million for beefed-up security, according to the Sheriff’s Office estimate.

Trump’s latest four-day stay included hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping for a summit at his 18-acre Palm Beach estate.

This was Trump’s sixth — and for local taxpayers his most expensive — visit since his inauguration.

The other expenses in the $1.5 million estimate include costs for metal barriers, temporary fencing and other equipment used to safeguard Trump’s Mar-aLago estate and to keep people from getting into the Eau Palm Beach resort in Manalapan, where Xi and his large entourage stayed.

Droves of demonstrators — including opponents and supporters of the Chinese president — lined the motorcade routes as Trump and Xi arrived Thursday afternoon.

The crowds diminished Friday, but many still lingered within view of Mara-Lago under the watch of deputies and police officers working with plainclothes U.S. and Chinese security forces.

There were six arrests related to the Chinese president’s visit, on charges such as obstructing a roadway and resisting arrest without violence, according to the Sheriff ’s Office.

But the crowd-control efforts as well as periodic road closings for the movement of two presidential motorcades throughout the visit made for a large law enforcement presence during the two-day summit.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw coordinated the local security help for the Secret Service. He said the summit was the county’s largest security undertaking since he took office in 2005.

“That’s huge when you have two [presidents] in the same place,” Bradshaw said before the summit. “You actually are running two security details along with the Secret Service.”

The local security costs from presidential visits could keep growing this weekend.

Trump is expected to be back in Palm Beach for the Easter holiday weekend.

Temporary security restrictions near Mar-a-Lago — which kick in during presidential visits — will start Thursday night and last through Sunday night, according to a notice issued by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Palm Beach County officials have called for the federal government to start reimbursing local security costs from Trump’s frequent visits.

Palm Beach County commissioners have also floated the idea of levying a special tax on Mar-a-Lago or dipping into taxes on local hotel stays to help pay for presidential security expenses.

Before Trump’s last visit, Bradshaw said he has already talked to the president about getting federal reimbursement.

“Unfortunately, the [refunding] system involves Congress,” Bradshaw said last week. “That’s not an easy deal to navigate through.”